Belfort, Griffin Top Disclosed Salaries from UFC 126

Middleweight title challenger Vitor
Belfort and co-main-eventer Forrest
Griffin pocketed event-high salaries of $275,000 for their work
at Saturday’s UFC
126 in Las Vegas, according to numbers released to Sherdog.com
by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Monday.

For his spectacular first-round knockout of Belfort, middleweight
champion Anderson
Silva earned a base payment $200,000, with no win bonus. The
figures disclosed by the NSAC do not include “locker room” bonuses
issued by the promotion -- such as Silva’s $75,000 earned for
“Knockout of the Night” honors -- nor pay-per-view revenue shares,
which likely accounted for the remainder of Silva’s salary.

Former 205-pound champion Griffin took home a $125,000 purse with a
$150,000 win bonus for his unanimous decision victory over
ex-middleweight ace Rich
Franklin ($75,000).

Topping the event’s undercard was Jon Jones, who
netted $140,000 and a light heavyweight title shot by choking out
Ryan
Bader ($20,000) in the second round. Jones also secured a
$75,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus for his rear-naked choke of
the previously unbeaten wrestler.

Other top earners included former WEC bantamweight champion
Miguel
Torres ($56,000), British slugger Paul Taylor
($36,000) and lightweight standout Donald
Cerrone ($36,000), who took part in the “Fight of the Night”
with Paul
Kelly ($19,000).